LANSING – In the midst of Michigan's unprecedented budget crisis, State Representatives Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing) and Joan Bauer (D-Lansing) joined State Senator Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) at a town hall meeting that focused on the state's economy and presented details on the agreement reached to resolve the 2007 budget crisis and the tough choices that have to be made to resolve the 2008 budget and move Michigan forward.
"While we reached an agreement to resolve our 2007 budget deficit, our state's 2008 budget is still in crisis," Meadows said. "We can no longer sit idly by with the hope that things will work themselves out. We must get our state moving forward while still protecting vital programs such as education, health care, police and fire protection and job creation."
The presentation detailed the chronic billion-dollar shortfall plaguing the state since 2000 and the negative impact that decreasing revenue has had on staging an economic comeback and delivering essential state services to the people of Michigan. Meadows explained that while the agreement reached on the 2007 budget protects community schools from deep funding cuts, safeguards funding for police and fire protection, prevents deep cuts to health care for our most vulnerable citizens, and averts a government shutdown, it accomplished the objectives through, among other things, deep cuts to the higher education budget. However, he noted that the state's 2008 budget still remains unresolved.
The town hall also was used to hear from participants about proposals being studied on how to resolve the budget crisis and make Michigan a powerhouse in the highly competitive 21st century global economy.
"I am committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get Michigan moving in the right direction," Bauer said. "We must develop a plan that invests in our people by investing in areas critical to Michigan's turnaround, such as education, health care and job creation."
"Our progress on the business tax deal has given us some real momentum to push through a long-term budget fix," Whitmer said. "We've made cuts and we're discussing reforms, but it's time to advance ideas that include new revenue. The final solution must allow us to invest in individuals and create communities that will be job magnets."